Big O's Journal

[obwales]

Hi Guys/Gals

Been reading loads of other journals and inspired me to do my own!

I'm 6ft 4 and 19 stone!! Not exactly unfit as play lots of rugby league and I've been going gym quite regular to! Basically I'm a bit soft in the belly area and want to shape up more.

I've been looking at Stronglifts 5x5 program and seems a good workout!! My only concern is about putting more weight on!! I don't want to get heavier, rather drop to 17 1/2 to 18 stone. Would make my life a lot easier playing rugby.

Have other people done this program and lost weight???

My diet involves

Breakfast - Protein shake with water and some oats / poached eggs on brown toast
Mid Morning - Tin of tuna / nuts
Lunch - Chicken / Turkey / Fish and salad
Mid Afternoon - nuts / protein chocolate bar
Dinner - Same as Lunch but have small portion of potatoes
Supper - Protein Shake with Milk and a bit of cheese and crackers (not loads)

I'm open to advice in regards to a gym program and diet. I can only squeeze in 3 gym sessions as got rugby training twice and match each weekend.

My only concern is the amount of squats involved, might do me over for match on weekend but I'm hoping I'll get stronger and recovery will be much less.

I've ordered some digital scales to get exact weight and body fat etc and once these are received will start training next week and will post my results. I'll get some pics as well at some point.

Anyway thanks for reading my post and as said above any advice would be great!!!

Owain

[suj]

hey mate, welcome!

diet looks good mate, obviously clean it up (by ditching the choc protein bar, most have high sugars which you don't need)
otherwise quite good, also ditch normal potatoes for sweet potatoes (less starch)

5x5 is good, great for strength, and you can lose weight on any routine, as weightloss is down to using more calories then consuming (this includes BMR/RMR's as well)

a thing i like to do when not doing weight is the Cosgrove Complex you can couple with cardio to help even more!

other things that are good is having a 4-day split, 2 uppers/2 lowers

some people do heavy 1 sesh, then speed work the other sesh.

good luck mate

[Tox]

If thats your real diet..then I wouldnt say youd put loads more weight on..just add more strength with the training. I wouldnt worry too much about squating loads...if you start with a capable weight and not go too heavy then DOMS should be minimal. Ive never done anything like the stronglifts 5x5 proghram..so cant really comment to much on it. But its generally an all over strength training program as opposed to outright bodybuilding I would say. Keep the diet clean with real natural foods and it can only be a good move.

[SpiderDan]

id say if you want to use the stronglifts 5x5, as ive suggested to others before assuming you play a match on saturday or sunday drop the third sessions squats (just do the upper body work) that way your legs will be in good shape for the match.

[obwales]

Quote

hey mate, welcome!

diet looks good mate, obviously clean it up (by ditching the choc protein bar, most have high sugars which you don't need)
otherwise quite good, also ditch normal potatoes for sweet potatoes (less starch)

5x5 is good, great for strength, and you can lose weight on any routine, as weightloss is down to using more calories then consuming (this includes BMR/RMR's as well)

a thing i like to do when not doing weight is the Cosgrove Complex you can couple with cardio to help even more!

other things that are good is having a 4-day split, 2 uppers/2 lowers

some people do heavy 1 sesh, then speed work the other sesh.

good luck mate

The Cosgrove Complex stuff spot on mate!! just what I need be a great help not looking forward to it though!! seems like pain but hey no pain no gain!!!

Thanks for the other replies guys! I'll get cracking next week and see how I go and keep you posted.

[suj]

Quote

The Cosgrove Complex stuff spot on mate!! just what I need be a great help not looking forward to it though!! seems like pain but hey no pain no gain!!!

Thanks for the other replies guys! I'll get cracking next week and see how I go and keep you posted.

mate they are really good/bad

good as they are enjoyable/work
bad as they make you pant/sweat like an animal haha

well me and WOFDave on here do them

i started on just a bar (20kg) for a week or 2

then now on 30kg (i haven't been doing them long neither mate)

it says 90sec break between each superset, but me and dave do 60sec first set, 50sec 2nd, 40sec 3rd etc

the last couple of sets will have you dying haha (sorry don't be put off, they are great)

also try some sprinting after, pick a distance, 50/100m for example, then sprint full-pelt, then turn around, walk slowly back to get breath back, then repeat...will have you dead mate (watch out, your hams/calves/quads/glutes will be dead, don't do before a game)

all the best!

[obwales]

Right I've started the Stronglifts 5x5 program this evening! Which was an effort as was still sore as hell from tough rugby match saturday!!

Weighed myself etc before hand and had a shock as heavier than what I thought I was.

Height 6ft 4
Weight - 127.4 kg / 20.1 stone
Body Fat - 29.7%
BMI - 34.2

So hopefully these stats will improve the further I get into the 12 week program.

Here were my starting figures on program

Squat - 5 x 5 @ 100kg
Bench Press - 5 x 5 @ 90Kg
Inverted Row - 3 sets of maximum reps which were 10,8,5
Press Ups - 3 sets of maximum reps which were 22,16,9
Reverse Crunches - 3 x 12

Not amazing stats but a good start and I'm aching so must have done something.

Finished off then with 15 mins on the bike and 5000 meters on the rower which took me just over 20 mins.

No match this week so I'll be back to Gym Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday will be 10 x 80m sprints maximum effort with just walk back as rest. And when I get home I'll be doing The Cosgrove Complex stuff!!

Fingers crossed I lose a few pounds!!

NO PAIN NO GAIN

[allan5790]

Good luck with the training mate.

One point though, I don't know how strong you are but stronglifts is designed so that you start light and are able to add weight on throughout your 12 weeks. Are you going to be able to add weight on each session without stalling within the first few weeks? 3 weeks on SL = 9 increases on each lift. Thats atleast 22.5kg, after 3 weeks. Are you going to be able to sustain that?

[suj]

nice sesh, and as allan said, you HAVE to start light, and get used to going up in weights, not start at your current lifts mate!